A Grand Tale
by Ordo Warrior
Summary: This is a one-shot. It has been twelve years since the defeat of Guhnash at the hands of Vivosaur's newest hero and the dinaurians have found there place on Earth. Duna must explain to her child why some have such a dislike toward him and the others.


**A/N: **Hello all in FanFiction, I recently bought this game(about a week ago) and beat it(three times). After reading a fan-comic on deviantART that I happened to stumble upon(created by shrouded-artist), about Dragon Age: Origins' Morrigan and the OGB(if you don't know, I'm not telling), and this story started to rattle in my mind(the one below). Now I can't help but put it out there, seeing as no one has touched it…yet.

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><p>As a woman continued to prepare dinner for her family, the front door violently opens as the crying of a child quickly overshadowed the slam. As the woman investigated, she found her son curled up on the couch, crying, with his tail wrapped around him. The woman moved to try and comfort him, "Dear, are you alright? Were you hurt? Do you need something?"<p>

The boy calmed down enough to tell his mother as he wiped the tears out of his eyes, "Some of my friends' parents keep telling me I shouldn't be and that I should just die."

His mother simply sat next to him as she caressed his hair, "Now don't listen to any of them." She then looked back to the door before looking down to him. "I think it's time I told you how I met your father."

His mother and father never talked much about the past around him, and his curiosity got the better of him. He laid his head against his mother's lap as he said, "OK."

His mother continued to stroke him as she started to tell the story, "Long ago, before the dinosaurs roamed Earth, my homeworld fell under attack by an enormous planet-eater we called Guhnash. We had advanced technology but nothing we had could stop this monster. We evacuated onto spaceships and left as we watched out home be consumed. Of the trillions on our world, we were only able to save a few hundred thousand. As we drifted through space, we looked for a suitable world to call home. That is when we found Earth. It was still in its early stages of life, during the Cambrian period to be precise. In an effort to repopulate our people, your Grandpa Dynal instigated a project to turn Earth into a new home world for us dinaurians. We would seed the world with microorganisms from our world in the hopes that they would one day evolve and become dinaurians themselves."

The boy was confused by the information, "But mom, evolution takes centuries. How are you and Grandpa Dynal here if he ordered the project back then?"

His mother simply smiled at the fact he has done his studies, "Our people have a technology called stone-sleep. Our bodies were turned into a fossil-like state so we could endure the test of time and reawaken to what we expected to be a world full of dinaurians. Instead, our project had failed before it had a chance to begin. You see the microorganisms we had sent all went extinct a few thousand years after they were in the planet's oceans. But our people's pride and arrogance in our technology led us to believe something had gone wrong. Our belief in that idea only strengthened when we lost connection with the four sub-idolcomps we had sent to monitor the evolution on the planet. Our people studied these mammals and determined they were savage, cruel, violent, inconsiderate creatures and a mistake that needed to be corrected. After learning enough of their language to hire a group to search for the sub-idolcomps for us because we did not know how to interact with the humans. And it was through them that I first met your father and Auntie Rosie. Our ship detected a faint signal from one of the sub-idolcomps coming from within a sunken pirate ship hidden within Bottomsup Bay and I was sent to investigate. The door to the captain's quarters had been shut so I used a…special tool to open it. When we first encountered I was disguised as a human." Duna touched a small pendent around her neck and a holographic projection appeared around her. Her new form was very similar to what she normally looked like, except she no longer had her tail, her light-blue scales turned to a fleshy skin tone, her ears weren't pointy nor did they stick out of her hair, her hair was turned from pink to blond and her clothing had turned to an elegant white dress with a golden band around her waist. She touched the pendent again and returned to her normal, light-blue scaled, digitigrade legged, self. "At first I didn't care what happened to either of them back then. I finished my investigation and left."

Her son then asked, "But you'd do anything for Auntie Rosie and dad, right?"

Duna smiled as she replied, "Of course. I'd never let anything bad happen to either of them. And it was your father who opened my eyes. After that I was again sent to investigate two abnormal energy signatures; at the Digadig village and at the Greenhorn Plains, and I met your father and Auntie Rosie both times. At the Digadig village, they were performing the Digadig hip-shaker dance in order to have a subterranean insect molt its exoskeleton."

Now the boy was skeptical, "Mom, bugs don't molt simply because you shake your hips."

"Well this one did. And even back then I though the dance was rather funny." Duna couldn't help but chuckle to herself at the memory, "But that dance would prove to be more than just helping bugs molt." She continued before he could ask, "At Greenhorn Plain, I had found this rather unusual fossil that looked like footwear. That was when your Auntie Rosie spotted me and told me they were searching for a sandal fossil and asked if I had found anything. At first I wasn't sure what a sandal was but then I showed them what I had found and it was what they were looking for."

"Mom," thinking she's teasing him, "…sandals can't be fossilized. That requires millions of years and sandals aren't that old. Beside, where was the other one? Sandals come in pairs."

She could only laugh quietly as she patted her son's head, "That'll be covered soon." Continuing from where she left off, "Soon after that, Auntie Rosie was kidnapped by the very same group King Dynal had hired to find the sub-idolcomps. But because of what they really were, we only told them that they were four idols. To the humans they looked like 'tacky idols' as your Auntie Rosie tells me."

Now the son was confused again, "Why would anyone kidnap Auntie Rosie? I thought they were looking for the idols?"

Duna tried to explain. "You see, your father had been battling with the group King Dynal had hired to find the sub-idolcomps and he had been finding them instead. At this time your father had three of the sub-idolcomps and the group demanded the sub-idolcomps in exchange for Auntie Rosie. Once he was informed, your father did not hesitate to bring the sub-idolcomps and battled many just to rescue Auntie Rosie. In the end, not even the boss of the organization was able to defeat him."

"But dad would do anything for you too, right mom?"

"That's right." Duna continued on, "But back then I wouldn't. Your father was trying to look for the last sub-idolcomp at Mt. Lavaflow. Unfortunately a large boulder had lodged itself in the path and I was forced to intervene. Just like the pirate door, I had to use a special tool to destroy the rock that stood in his path. As he continued on, I continued to follow from a distance. His radar eventually led him into a tunnel that was blocked by another rock that he couldn't smash. I assisted again but this time I remained hoping he would find it. As expected, he found the sub-idolcomp and I quickly demanded he hand it over to me. Your father is a stubborn one, he refused and unfortunately for me, my hologram had overheated from the lava and reviled my true form. I was forced to battle him."

There were still parts of the story her son still couldn't believe, "Mom, dad had vivosaurs. How could you battle him?"

Duna grabbed the pendent again, "This isn't just for holograms. It can also be used to create combat armor to allow me to fight. I also had two capsules that carried dinomaton, robots ready to fight on command. But your father is an excellent fighter, and I lost to him. After our battle an earthquake started to occur. Surrounded by lava, the only thing we could do was stay our ground and wait for the quake to finish. However, I was trapped underneath some of the debris. Without hesitation, your father started to chip away at the rubble. After the debris was gone, he made sure I was alright. At that point, I was confused by your father's actions. He contradicted everything we had believed humans to be. I left him there as another earthquake occurred and I limped my way out of the cave." She paused for a moment to reflect on that event, "Later that day your father tried to find a rare vivosaur in order to defeat the BB boss. But the boss had used a special ray that made cleaning the fossil all but impossible. So I arrived to provide aid, allowing him to clean the fossil. Before the end of the day I had asked your father to meet me in the Park at night when no one would be around. I used the human disguise as I waited for him. When he arrived, I confessed to him that I was dinaurian and what I had originally thought about humanity. I had to ask him one thing though."

Her son didn't like the suspense, "Well what did you ask him?"

This would be one thing she would never forget, "I asked him, 'If there was a war between humans and dinaurian…If I were your enemy…Would you have still saved me?' And without a seconds thought he answered, 'Enemy or comrade, I'd always save you.' I was shocked to hear him say that, and I think it was then that I started to develop feelings for your father. I knew what was to come and I knew my people planned to revert all of life on Earth back to a more primitive time in the hopes that dinaurians might evolve. I gave your father a kiss on the check and said goodbye."

Her son thought he heard a flaw in the thought process, "But mom, you said the project failed. So that evolution could never be no matter if you restarted back to the beginning."

"Yes, but again, we were not aware of the events that transpired during stone-sleep." Now Duna seemed disheartened as she continued, "So your uncle, Raptin, and I had forced our way into the Richmond building to retrieve all four sub-idolcomps. But your father and Auntie Rosie happened to walk in to find us. I was both happy and horrified that they did. Raptin was not using his disguise and was more than willing to harm both of them. Raptin pulled out a regression ray and used it on Rosie before I could get in the way or pull her away. Rosie was reverted into a triconodonta, as Dr. Diggins later informs me. I knew Raptin was going to turn the ray on your father, so I grabbed the last sub-idolcomp and suggested we leave now as I stood in his way. Raptin shoved me aside and fired anyway. It was fortunate that Raptin had used most of the ray's power by then as it only knocked your father unconscious."

Now the son was in shock, "Uncle Raptin did that?" Now he wasn't sure if he could see him the same way ever again.

Duna tried to assure him, "Don't be angry at Raptin. He was just being stubborn and pigheaded, like I was before your father saved me. On our ship, we had reconnected the sub-idolcomps to the main idolcomp and King Dynal had given me the 'honor' of activating the ship's regression rays. But I hesitated. Each step closer to the main idolcomp I questioned why we are doing this. I was worried about your father and all of his friends. At the switch I finally found the courage to stand up to King Dynal and refused. I refused to revert all of humanity to amoebas because they simply weren't dinaurians. Suddenly a strange looking fellow appeared from behind one of the pillars that held the sub-idolcomps. King Dynal ordered him to take me away; instead he stood his ground ready to fight. King Dynal soon saw the fellow wasn't a dinaurian and ordered the human to remove his mask. It was your father. I was filled with joy and fear for his sake. King Dynal then sent three dinomatons to stop him. But your father's vivosaurs were more than a match for them as he swiftly defeated all three. But the battle was a distraction, King Dynal had moved to the main idolcomp to activate it. Luckily, Dr. Diggins had disconnected one of the sub-idolcomps before the main idolcomp was activated. But the chronal energy had sent Dr. Diggins and the sub-idolcomp to the Jurassic period. King Dynal was furious at the loss of one of the sub-idolcomp and was ready to use his combat holography system to kill us, so I transported us back to Earth."

Her son couldn't imagine that the Dynal he knew could be like this, "Is this really the same Grandpa Dynal that I know?" Before she could answer, he then thought about another thing that was bothering them, "Wait! You and dad introduced me to Dr. Diggins. How did he return from the Jurassic?"

Duna answered his questions in the order he asked before she continued, "If only he was like that back then. But in the end things did work out for the best. As for how Dr. Diggins did, you just have to wait. After returning to Earth, I explained everything to Mr. Richmond and I set up one of the computers to find out where the last sub-idolcomp was hidden. Though things were not as simple as that, I detected the sub-idolcomp in five different locations at the same time. This caused your Auntie Rosie to get all worked up and excited which caused the regression ray's effect to revert her to a triconodonta again. I assured them the effects were only temporary."

He then thought about instances Rosie tried to calm herself down, "So is that's why Auntie Rosie tries so hard not to be overly excited?"

Duna turned away to laugh to herself quietly, "Yes, Raptin and some of the others are looking for solutions for her. We sent your father to search each sight to discover what is causing the energy signature. After he found all five pieces I noticed it was missing its core processor that was the key to making it more than just a stone idol. King Dynal would need the core processor at the very least in order to power up the main idolcomp. I then asked Mr. Richmond if there was anywhere on Vivosaur Island that sonar couldn't scan. He informed us of a place he called Secret Island. He then informed us that the island holds a crashed alien spaceship that he and Dr. Diggins had discovered. It was from that ship they learned to reanimate and revive fossils. Mr. Richmond and Dr. Diggins placed a holographic projection around the island and jammed all sonar in the area so that the technology wouldn't fall into the wrong hands."

Her son could see those two doing that, "Dr. Diggins and Mr. Richmond are very kind people."

Duna couldn't agree more, "Yes they are. I was personally curious about the ship itself, so your father and I then moved to investigate Secret Island. Upon arrival I felt a sense of familiarity and once inside I knew why. The ship was indeed one of our scout ships. I checked one of the surviving computers to uncover why the ship had crashed."

He then asked about the crew, "What about the ship's crew? Didn't they know what happened?"

She knew what was reported, "Unfortunately they didn't say. The crew that did make it to our ship was unaware as to what caused the crash. There was an abnormal energy reading from one of the holding chamber that contained samples of Guhnash. We had the samples in the hopes we could find a weakness or means of destroying it. But we soon found that nothing we had could stop it. It was impossible. As we continued on through the ship we found stone slates written in one of the human languages. After passing several of these slates, we were just outside the ship's main control room. But what we found was a stone-sleep device in use and not a dinaurian but a human within the stone. Oddly enough the human had the last fragment. But before we could move the stone-sleep individual, the other dinaurians had detected the core processor. King Dynal had sent Raptin to retrieve the core processor. However, I stood my ground and stepped between Raptin and your father, telling him I wasn't going to let him hurt the humans or your father. But your father stepped in again and battled Raptin instead of me. After your father beat Raptin, I tried to reason with him with the realization I had come to, but he wouldn't hear me. We took the stone-sleeping human back to the Fossil Center to be revived. Because the technology was based on dinaurians processes, I was confident that we could revive him to retrieve the idol component. Before we could do that however, we had to remove an extra layer of stone. It was Dr. Diggins and he had lost his sandals and was wearing a loincloth."

"So that's how he returned from the Jurassic and that's where the sandal fossils come from!"

She smiled, "Right. So as I explained the situation to Dr. Diggins your father took the core processor to Mr. Richmond to stash it away so the other dinaurians could not find it. After finishing, we headed to the Richmond building but King Dynal had used the hologram to pretend to be Mr. Richmond. He used a stun ray on us, forcing your father to fight King Dynal and any dinomatons that stood in his way. I had confidence in your father but King Dynal is strong, there was a moment that I wasn't sure if he could succeed but I had nothing to worry about. Once I was mobile again, I quickly teleported myself back to the ship in order to aid your father in battle against my king. I rushed over to the Idolcomp chamber, but your father had already won and King Dynal understood that humans are worthy of leaving be. As King Dynal suggested that we would return to space to search for a new world to live on, your father then made a suggestion none of us would have thought of. He told us we didn't need to return to space and he openly suggested that we dinaurians could live on Earth alongside humanity. Even I was shocked to hear that from your father. King Dynal thought of the possibility but Raptin would not have it. He activated the main idolcomp against King Dynal's wishes. That is when the sub-idolcomps spoke."

Shocked, all the son could ask was, "The sub-idolcomps spoke?"

"Yes, that is when we learned about the failure of our project. And that was also when we learned why the sub-idolcomps disconnected themselves from the main idolcomp, the four sub-idolcomps decided that they would observe and protect the organisms that spurred from the life already on the planet. Unfortunately they had also informed us that the main idolcomp had reached a different conclusion. The main idolcomp wanted to end all life on the planet, but because the main idolcomp could not do this itself, it used the one thing it knew could; Guhnash. Raptin had given the main idolcomp enough power to send the final piece of the signal to Guhnash so it could find and consume Earth. Raptin never wanted that, his intensions were always focused on helping our people."

"So is that why Uncle Raptin and Grandpa Dynal stay in the ship?"

"Yes, they usually stay on the ship because of that but King Dynal occasionally leaves for diplomatic purposes. So King Dynal, your father and I returned to the Fossil Center to inform the others and explain the situation. King Dynal then suggested we take as many humans onto our ships as we could and he was willing to volunteer to stay behind just to save one more human. I too was willing to stay behind. But there wasn't enough room to make much of a difference. Then Rosie started to make a number of suggestions to help save humans but there wasn't enough time. She even suggested attacking Guhnash head on but we thought it to be impossible. It wasn't until Dr. Diggins spoke up. During his exile in the Jurassic period he studied the Guhnash samples from our crashed scout ship and learned that Guhnash could not function without its three brains and that Dr. Diggins had learned the exact location of Guhnash's brains. Because every part of Guhnash was a living weapon, he proposed that if we could defeat the three brains in a Fossil Battle Guhnash would lose control. And we all turned to the best and strongest Fossil Fighter in the room, your father."

He had heard stories of how strong his father was but to fight a planet-eater, "I know dad is strong, but is dad really that strong?"

Duna smiled, "Your father told me he had to battle an individual called Saurhead in five Fossil Battles in a row without switch his vivosaurs. When he was ready, your father climbed up onto the teleporter, ready to go alone. But Rosie and I weren't going to let your father go alone. We both wanted to go but the teleporter only had enough power to send one other with him. He paused for a moment to decided, but in the end he chose me to help him. I was relived and at that moment, I couldn't possibly have been any happier. We soon arrived within Guhnash's mouth and our presence was quickly known to Guhnash. With his best vivosaurs, your father fought a very intense and strategic battle against the three brains. But your father won and I was so overcome with joy I started to dance for a moment, before I stopped from embracement. But that joy was short lived as Guhnash's energy started to destabilize without its three brains. We tried to teleport but the large energy flow was interfering with the teleporter's tracking system. We were fortunate that I foresaw such a possibility and brought a portable stone-sleep inducer so we could survive the explosion and my people would easily find us. We held each other's hand so we wouldn't get separated while in stone form. Before I activated it, I said, 'We'll see each other again soon.' After that it was like sleeping. I'm not sure how long we were in stone form but we were soon found as I knew we would but it seemed Guhnash's energy had 'tainted things'. Your father tells me that somehow the stone-sleep inducer had malfunctioned and that they couldn't revive me. King Dynal planned to give me a proper farewell before he, and the other dinaurians left Earth. King Dynal and your father tell me the Digadig chieftain appeared and informed them he had received a vision from something he called 'the Fossil God' and it told him 'Only the power of the good earth can awaken the sleeping daughter of a far-off star'. He then said he would need to perform the hip-shaker dance to revive me."

Now some of the story was starting to make more sense, "That's what you meant that the dance was more than just for molting bugs. It has that kind of power..."

Duna simply nodded, "Yes. Your father saved me for the fourth time and in the end my people were allowed to live on Earth with humanity. But there will always be individuals who would be opposed to change. But even though these people will not accept you, it will be up to people like your father to show them that change can be a good thing. And as long as you continue to be the best I know you can be, you too will change the hearts and minds of these individuals just like your father." Duna then embraced her child in a hug, "No matter what happens, you will always be my son and as long as you stay true to your heart, you will always make your father and I proud."

As Duna finished her tale, the door opened again and a man walked through the door. He saw Duna and the child on the couch as he said, "There you are. I was looking all over the Park for you."

His son ran from the couch and grabbed his father in a hug, "Dad! Mom's been telling me the story about when you and she met. I want to hear more stories from your past."

He embraced his son in a hug and replied, "Ok, I'll tell you a few stories. But let me get in the house first." Duna had also walked over to him, as he soon hugged her and gave her a kiss.

Duna smiled as she asked, "How was your day, dear? Did you have many Fossil Battles?"

He smiled while he replied, "Yes. There were many aspiring Fossil Fighters that could beat me one day if they continue to train hard. In particular, I found this one new fighter…"

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><p><strong>AN:** This was fun. I'm left the hero to be ambiguous(Like Revan and the Jedi Exile's real names) so you can use any name you want(that is if you like Duna and followed the storyline I did) and I'm making the assumption that humans and dinaurians could produce children. As you can tell this take place a few years after the events of the game(and I made a passing at the upcoming sequel). Sorry for making Duna sound like the stereotypical housewife, but remember this is just an instant in her life. She could very well be active in the Fossil Fighter community and besides, I'm a guy and if I had a family I'd make dinner for my family if they weren't home yet. I know people can be stubborn individuals who would oppose change or anything new and different with all of their might. I'm not even going to site the many examples of hate we as humans have towards one another let alone the sparks that will fly **when** we encounter an alien race(and I stress 'when'). For any who have played Dragon Age: Origins, then you know I'm taking a few bits from the DLC Witch Hunt and from Flemeth. This was a short one-shot story that I just wanted to put out there. I don't plan on expanding or continuing the story. If someone wants to use it, then just say I was partly responsible for your idea(I don't want royalites).


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